Nguyen Van That, 30, created an orchard cooperative with an annualrevenue of 1 billion VND (47,600 USD) in the Mekong Delta province ofHau Giang.
He received the "Creative Young" award from the Central Youth Union in 2012 for his accomplishments.
Last year, That-founded Thanh Phuoc Agricultural Cooperative providedmore than 200,000 seedless lemon seedlings to local farmers and bought60 tonnes of fruit. The seedless breed of lime has become increasinglypopular.
Thanh Phuoc buys about a tonne of fruit perday at 30,000 VND per kilo to sell to supermarkets and wholesale marketsin the south. It also exports to Middle Eastern and European countriesthrough local ex-import enterprises.
Last year, Thatinvested a large portion of his own money into the cooperative toinstall an international-standard cold storage system and drying room.
He said seedless lemon trees are ideal because theyare easy to grow and could be harvested year-round. The co-op harvestsan average of 30 to 40 tonnes per hectare.
The pricefluctuates between 20,000 VND and 30,000 VND per kg, earning a netprofit of 400 million VND (19,000 US D) per hectare.
The co-op has 84 member farmers with a total of 97 hectares, all of whomhave met VietGAP and GlobalGAP fruit-planting standards since 2012.
To reach the standards, member farmers take technical trainingcourses on fertiliser and pesticide use. The cooperative suppliesfarmers with high-quality seedlings and subsidises to keep their fruitat the same value as the local markets'.
There is a lotof demand abroad for lime fruit, but the co-op can't keep up withimport-export enterprise demand. So it suggested Hau Giang southernprovince's People's Committee open a 200ha pilot field to grow more.
The co-op would assist with seedlings, the production process and purchasing fruit.
This year the co-op plans to order 400 seedless lime trees from theSouthern Fruit Research Institute, aiming at expanding high-qualityseedling production.-VNA
He received the "Creative Young" award from the Central Youth Union in 2012 for his accomplishments.
Last year, That-founded Thanh Phuoc Agricultural Cooperative providedmore than 200,000 seedless lemon seedlings to local farmers and bought60 tonnes of fruit. The seedless breed of lime has become increasinglypopular.
Thanh Phuoc buys about a tonne of fruit perday at 30,000 VND per kilo to sell to supermarkets and wholesale marketsin the south. It also exports to Middle Eastern and European countriesthrough local ex-import enterprises.
Last year, Thatinvested a large portion of his own money into the cooperative toinstall an international-standard cold storage system and drying room.
He said seedless lemon trees are ideal because theyare easy to grow and could be harvested year-round. The co-op harvestsan average of 30 to 40 tonnes per hectare.
The pricefluctuates between 20,000 VND and 30,000 VND per kg, earning a netprofit of 400 million VND (19,000 US D) per hectare.
The co-op has 84 member farmers with a total of 97 hectares, all of whomhave met VietGAP and GlobalGAP fruit-planting standards since 2012.
To reach the standards, member farmers take technical trainingcourses on fertiliser and pesticide use. The cooperative suppliesfarmers with high-quality seedlings and subsidises to keep their fruitat the same value as the local markets'.
There is a lotof demand abroad for lime fruit, but the co-op can't keep up withimport-export enterprise demand. So it suggested Hau Giang southernprovince's People's Committee open a 200ha pilot field to grow more.
The co-op would assist with seedlings, the production process and purchasing fruit.
This year the co-op plans to order 400 seedless lime trees from theSouthern Fruit Research Institute, aiming at expanding high-qualityseedling production.-VNA
